Fourth From the Last is the first album by the band The W's

The W's

The W's were a Christian ska/swing band, formed in Corvallis, Oregon in 1996. Success came quickly to the band and their first album, Fourth from the Last, was a sleeper hit unexpectedly having had the strongest debut of any Christian album to date for its distributor. They toured the United...

. The name of the album is derived from the fact that the letter W

W

W is the 23rd letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.In other Germanic languages, including German, its pronunciation is similar or identical to that of English V...

 is the fourth from the last letter in the Latin alphabet

Latin alphabet

The Latin alphabet, also called the Roman alphabet, is the most recognized alphabet used in the world today. It evolved from a western variety of the Greek alphabet called the Cumaean alphabet, which was adopted and modified by the Etruscans who ruled early Rome...

.

The album was well received, achieving #4 on Billboard's Heatseekers chart and "Top Contemporary Christian" charts, and #147 on "The Billboard 200". Although the album was pulled from the shelves of LifeWay Christian Resources

LifeWay Christian Resources

LifeWay Christian Resources, based in Nashville, Tennessee, is one of the largest providers of Christian resources in the world. LifeWay has been recognized as one of the "Best Employers in Tennessee" by BusinessTN magazine.-Background:...

 stores for containing "indecent" words the album eventually sold over 200,000 units. The album received two Dove Awards in 1999, first for "Modern Rock Album of the Year," and "Modern Rock Record Song of the Year" for the song "The Devil Is Bad".

The hidden track is a tribute to the band Five Iron Frenzy

Five Iron Frenzy

Five Iron Frenzy is a Christian ska band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1995 and disbanded in 2003. The band announced they were recording new material on November 22, 2011....

, performed in the style of Wesley Willis

Wesley Willis

Wesley Willis was a musician and artist from Chicago. A diagnosed chronic schizophrenic, he gained an enormous cult following in the 1990s after releasing several hundred songs of simple but unique music, with emphasis on his humorous, bizarre, and frequently obscene lyrics...

.

Track listing

1. "Open Minded"
2. "The Devil Is Bad"
3. "Frank"
4. "J.P."
5. "Moses"
6. "Pup"
7. "King of Polyester"
8. "Jason E"
9. "Alarm Clock"
10. "Flower Tattoo"
11. "Dexter"
12. "Hui"
    • Hidden Track (about Five Iron Frenzy
      Five Iron Frenzy
      Five Iron Frenzy is a Christian ska band formed in Denver, Colorado in 1995 and disbanded in 2003. The band announced they were recording new material on November 22, 2011....
      
      )

Music credits

• Andrew Schar - Lead Vocals, Guitar
• Brian Morris - Drums, Cover Art Talent
• Valentine Hellman - Tenor Sax, Clarinet
• Bret Barker - Trumpet
• Todd Gruener - Bass, vocals
• James Carter - Alto Sax, background vocals

• All songs were written by The W's except:
  • "Frank" and "Dexter" were written by Todd Gruener
  • "Flower Tattoo" was written by Hunter Oswald

Production credits

• Produced by Masaki Liu
  Masaki Liu
  Masaki Liu, sometimes referred to as "Saki", is the engineer and producer operating One Way Studio, a digital recording studio in Benicia, California. Masaki has recorded and produced music for many bands, including Five Iron Frenzy, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, The Echoing Green, The W's and...
  
  
• Executive Produced by Frank Tate
• Mastered by Ken Lee at Kenneth Lee Mastering, Oakland, CA
• Album design and Layout by Aaron James
• Photography by David Dobson

External links

• Fourth From the Last Lyrics from christianmusic.com